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4576

Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration

« on: October 20, 2018, 02:08:16 PM »

Back when George W. Bush first got elected as President, he wanted to bring us together in the Western Hemisphere, from the top of Alaska to the bottom of Chile, and W's first trip as President was to visit President Fox of Mexico. W was also the first President to visit Peru, and he visited Colombia a few times, and other nations here in the Western Hemisphere. Bush spoke about how we had some of the poorest people in the world right here in our own backyard, and he wanted to improve relations and trade here in the Western Hemisphere to help to pull people out of poverty, and Bush spoke about how we could all rise together, as we help our neighbors we too rise as we have better trade partners, and better allies. (You can never go wrong by strengthening your allies.)

Then 9/11 happened, and everything changed, and the focus and the money all went to the Middle East. George W. Bush went from focusing on the Western Hemisphere, to focusing on the Middle East, and terrorism, etc. 

The focus never really went back to the Western Hemisphere. And now we have a President who hates the Mexicans, he does not have anything good to say about Mexico, and he does not seem to be interested in improving relations here in the Western Hemisphere, he is making relations worse not better. 

(Here is a link about when Mexicans came to help the people of the USA after Hurricane Katrina hit... 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_response_to_Hurricane_Katrina )

We need to make relations better here in the Western Hemisphere, and we need to improve trade, and we need to lift Latin America out of poverty, while the people of the USA rise right along with them, etc.

Salute,

Tony V.

4577

Fitness and Nutrition / Re: Fitness and Nutrition

« on: October 13, 2018, 04:16:44 PM »

Here is a recipe from the Star Wars newsletter, it looks pretty good so I thought that I would share it here.



FOR THE JEDI IT IS TIME TO EAT

As the colder months approach now is the perfect time to whip up something yummy befitting of a Jedi Master. Here's a tasty interpretation of "Yoda's Incredible Herb Stew" -- originally prepared exclusively for National Public Radio by noted gourmet chef and author, Craig Claiborne.

This recipe goes waaay back to 1983, when NPR debuted a new 10-part radio drama based on The Empire Strikes Back. Craig Claiborne was invited to create his own tasty version of "rootleaf," a succulent dish featured in both the film and radio versions. If you remember, "rootleaf" was prepared for Luke Skywalker by Yoda, the ancient Jedi Master.

We believe you'll find the following recipe a perfect food idea for eight hungry young Jedi. Kids should have adult supervision and assistance when making this meal.

3 pounds lean lamb or other meat
Salt to taste, if desired
Freshly ground pepper to taste
6 tablespoons light vegetable or other oil
6 cups finely chopped parsley
3 cups thinly sliced onions
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons finely minced ginger root
1 teaspoon finely chopped seeded hot green or red chilies
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaf
3 pounds fresh spinach, well rinsed and tough stems removed.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the meat into one inch cubes, and add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Heat half the oil in a heavy skillet and add the meat, turning to brown the pieces on all sides.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a Dutch oven or heavy casserole and add parsley, onions and garlic. Cook, stirring often until the onions are wilted. Add the meat, coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger root, chilies, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir.

4. Add water to cover, bring to boil and cover tightly. Let simmer about 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the meat is quite tender.

5. Meanwhile, drop the spinach into a kettle of boiling water with salt to taste and let simmer about five minutes. Drain well and run under cold water. Drain thoroughly.

6. Squeeze the spinach to remove all excess liquid. Place the spinach on a chopping block and chop coarsely.

7. Add the spinach to the stew and stir. Let simmer together about five minutes.

Yield: Eight servings.

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-------------------------------------
SIGN-UP
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Did a kind friend forward this to you? If so, you can sign up
for your own FREE subscription for the Star Wars newsletter at:
http://www.starwars.com/

Salute,

Tony V.

4578

Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration

« on: October 13, 2018, 02:49:13 PM »

Hi Tony –

"Greyhound will always welcome Border Patrol here."

That's what a Greyhound employee told activists at a bus station in Washington state, where immigration enforcement was conducting warrantless searches and arrests of passengers.

What's worse: Greyhound is choosing not to listen to ACLU lawyers after we repeatedly met with company executives to make clear that Greyhound has the right to deny Border Patrol entry on their buses when agents don't have a warrant or probable cause.

We've had enough. Add your name to tell Greyhound that it's fueling Trump's deportation machine by allowing Border Patrol to violate the rights of its passengers. And it needs to stop now.

This is still happening: Across the country, Border Patrol agents are boarding Greyhound buses in search of noncitizens to accost, round up, and deport. Agents interrogate and detain passengers based on nothing more than the color of their skin or the sound of their voice.

Greyhound should refuse Border Patrol searches to protect its passengers, like the 12-year-old arrested on a bus in Miami or the father and his DACA-recipient son questioned as they rode from Seattle to Montana.

We're turning up the heat: Soon, we'll deliver our petition to the Greyhound headquarters, and we need your help so that they finally get the message.

Tell Greyhound: There's no excuse for allowing Border Patrol to board without a warrant or probable cause. By doing so, they're powering the Trump administration's anti-immigrant deportation machine.

Thanks for taking action,

Natalie Montelongo
ACLU Campaign Strategist, fighting for immigrants' rights

----------

This is not Nazi Germany, and we do not have a Gestapo here, we must not allow border patrol agents and ICE agents to board Greyhound buses checking papers. Greyhound needs to tell the border patrol and ICE agents "NO!" Border patrol agents and ICE agents boarding the buses and checking papers is unconstitutional, and it must end.

And it is the same as when I was a limousine driver, the police, etc, are not allowed to search the limo without a warrant. The border patrol and ICE agents cannot search the buses without a warrant.

Salute,

Tony V.

4579

Middle East / Re: Middle East

« on: October 07, 2018, 11:59:10 PM »

Kurdistan
Horse club in Erbil kicks off season of racing, betting
 John J. Catherine |October 06-2018     03:08 Pm


ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A horse club in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, launched its 2018-2019 weekly racing season with crowds of spectators betting on which horses would cross the finish line first.

“There’s still time to place your bets before they start, folks,” said one of the two announcers, known as race-callers, in English. He alternated with a female Arabic speaking counterpart to narrate the day over music on a sound system that blared throughout the afternoon.

Some cheered from bleachers or tables outside while others watched on from VIP areas. Many studied printouts of racing information, smoked hookah, or sipped soft drinks. Others sat in the comfort of the horse club’s nearby air-conditioned cafe, watching the races on video monitors and placing bets from there.

As the sun began to set behind the track, horse owners and their families kept a close eye on the performances of their horses, many of whom were brought in that morning from stables across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. Visiting equestrian experts and jockeys, many from Baghdad, worked closely with local and international club employees.


“Finally, we have the betting. We have been waiting for this, but now we have it,” EIEC Club Manager Khalid Al Rachid told Kurdistan 24. “I think people will come to try it. It really is something new for Kurdistan.”

Although the new cash betting element of the races got a brief trial run in the last event of the previous season in May, its use was limited. Races then halted for four months to spare the horses from running in the sweltering summer heat.

By the time the betting system was up and running for Friday afternoon’s second race, the level of excitement among the audience, many of whom grasped tickets, showed a marked increase as the horses galloped down the home stretch.

The suspense was noticeably greater in the races where dozens of those attending had a chance to win cash, and it seemed to spread to those who were not placing bets.

One woman on her first visit to the racetrack stood shocked as her 10,000 Iraqi dinar investment (about $8.50) in a mare named Liza turned into almost $200, a bet that had some of the better odds of the day.

As she returned to the betting table at the side of the main building to collect her winnings, those who chose other horses left their unlucky tickets on their tables or dropped them on the floor.

Winning jockeys and horse owners then lined up in front of cameras and television news crews, holding up trophies they had won.

The Erbil International Equestrian Club (EIEC) first opened its doors for riding and jumping lessons in 2011, is home to some 90 horses, and has held several international jumping competitions.

The racing side of EIEC, called the Kurdistan Jockey Club, started holding races in March 2017 after the completion of its racing track and facilities.

This season’s racing is scheduled to take place every Friday afternoon for the foreseeable future. Admission is free, and families are welcome.   

Racing events will feature three to four races in classes such as local horses, thoroughbred horses, and Arabian horses.

http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/sport/d1399526-40b2-4596-81cf-cc0f3c9fa02a 

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Horse racing is great, it is a sport of royals as well as common folks. Everyone loves horse racing. And it is fun to bet. 

Salute,

Tony V.

4580

Middle East / Re: Middle East

« on: October 07, 2018, 10:44:40 PM »

On the issue of Afghanistan...

We need to get the Afghan growers to grow cotton instead of opium poppies. The Afghans watched the success of Egyptian cotton, and the Afghans will grow cotton if helped in the right direction, such as by giving them business loans to grow cotton, etc. Then the Afghans can make bed sheets, and clothing, and stuff, from the cotton, and they can have a cotton based economy instead of an opium based economy.

And as a better cotton based economy grows in Afghanistan, things will improve, and people can focus more on schools for the children, and on peace-time activities. I am sure they are all getting tired of the fighting, and I am sure they would love peace. Getting the adults all employed, and getting the children into school, will help things to improve immensely. Sure, there will always be people who want to be soldiers, and police officers, etc, and there will always be a need for soldiers and cops, but in a peace-time economy the people need other peaceful jobs, they need school teachers, and the growers can grow cotton and they can make stuff from the cotton, and people can grow food, and people can make cheese, etc,etc, etc, there are many peace-time jobs that they need to be doing. Cotton can be a great part of a peace-time economy in Afghanistan.

Salute,

Tony V.

----

AID and the Afghan Cotton Saga
Why would USAID not get behind an effort to turn Afghan farmers from poppy to cotton?

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran, August 6, 2012

Link...

http://www.theglobalist.com/aid-and-the-afghan-cotton-saga/

4581

Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration

« on: October 06, 2018, 02:07:41 PM »

They are saying that the economy is doing the best it has done since 1969, and it is all baloney.

The rich are getting richer, but we have record numbers of homeless people. For those homeless people the economy sucks.

Until we can get the homeless people into housing, fed, cleaned up, and then back to work, you cannot say that the economy is great. The economy will be great when the economy is creating new jobs for the homeless people, and when the economy is creating jobs for the new immigrants. The USA used to have so many jobs that people could come from all over the world and get a job in the USA.

Of note, all of this talk about an improving economy is causing the interest rates to rise, and the rents are rising, and the bills are all going up, but the wages are not going up, and Social Security income is not rising, for the retired and for the disabled their income is not rising. Rent is going up, but the incomes are not rising. And jobs are not being created for the homeless and for the immigrants.

Salute,

Tony V.

4582

Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration

« on: October 04, 2018, 06:25:12 PM »

On the issue of our economy...

We have fifty eight thousand homeless people in Los Angeles County alone, that is far from good. We need to get those people off of the streets and into housing, and we need to get them fed and cleaned up and healthy so that they can go back to work. We need housing for them, we need jobs for them, we need doctors for them, and social workers, etc. 

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-homelessness-impact-on-others-20180301-htmlstory.html

We are building new high density housing in the Platinum Triangle in Orange County, and more housing needs to be built.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_Triangle,_Anaheim

And people can build new housing in Mojave, and in California City, in Southern California, but they need to create jobs. Guys like Richard Branson have projects in Mojave, and Mojave needs more mavericks. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave,_California

You cannot say that the economy is great, when you have enormous amounts of homeless people. For those homeless people the economy sucks. We need to get them off of the streets and into housing, and then we need to nurture them back to health, and then we need to get them into the workforce. 

And building our high speed trains in California will help our economy, as will high speed trains between Anaheim and Las Vegas. 

We also need to build electric cars in Van Nuys, they used to build Camaros and other cars and trucks in Van Nuys, and they need to manufacture electric cars to create jobs. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Nuys_Assembly

The economy sucks, until we can get all of the homeless people into housing, healed, and then employed. 

Salute,

Tony V.

4583

Western Europe / Re: Western Europe

« on: October 01, 2018, 03:44:04 PM »

When I was in Rome, Italy, the people in the Hostel watched the Italian version of MTV, and so you got to see all of the American stars talk about how much they loved Italy. Leonardo DiCaprio was on the Italian version of MTV, and a million other American stars, and they all talked about how much they loved Italy. And the Italian version of MTV seemed more interesting to me than the American version.

Of note, MTV needs to bring back the music. It is after all "MUSIC TELEVISION."

https://tinyurl.com/MTV-ROME-ITALY

Salute,

Tony V.

4584

Business and Technology / Re: Business and Technology

« on: September 30, 2018, 07:19:19 PM »

I thought of a new invention, they need an app for your cell phone that allows you to open garage doors and security gates with your cell phone. 

Salute,

Tony V.

4585

Central and South America / Re: Central and South America

« on: September 26, 2018, 03:49:28 PM »

On the issue of the Catholic Church helping the Venezuelans...

In many areas the Catholic Church is the only charity which is helping the refugees, and the orphans, and the homeless, and the needy. And most of the people in the Catholic Church are wonderful people who have devoted their lives to helping other people, and to serving God, and doing as God asks in Matthew 25; 31-46. God tells us to help the poor, and the needy, and the fatherless, and to deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Those who harm children are not Christians, and God tells us to cast those who would harm children into the sea, and to drown them. 

"It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin."

Those who molest children should be cast into the sea and drowned. But, the good priests and nuns are wonderful, and those who help the children are awesome. Those in the Catholic Church who help people, and who serve God, are great, and they should be supported. The bad ones need to be reported, and the good ones need to be supported. 

Also, sadly some people hate priests, while they praise pimps, and those people are confused; a good priest is wonderful, and a pimp needs to be punished. I hate pimps. 

The Catholic Church can help the Venezuelans, and it is a great church which does a lot of great things.

Salute,

Tony V.

4586

Religion and Politics / Re: Religion and Politics

« on: September 24, 2018, 03:34:05 PM »

In Hollywood there used to be housing for homeless actresses, run by nuns. When a young lady would come to Hollywood to be an actress, and if she ended up homeless, then the nuns would help her for free, until she became successful, or gave up and went home, or whatever.

And hostels are good too. Like the hostel I stayed at in Rome, Italy, it was only 15 dollars a night. Hollywood needs more hostels. The tourists would love the hostels too.

Salute,

Tony V.

The Oban Hotel in Hollywood, on Yucca, would make a great hostel, they can fill it full of bunk beds, and people could get to take a nice hot shower and sleep in a nice comfortable bed for 15 dollars per night.

Also, one idea that I had, is that I wrote a poetry book, and I thought about making copies of my poetry book, and then paying the homeless people to go door to door in the neighborhoods selling copies of my poetry book. The homeless people could earn enough money to shower and sleep in a hostel by selling copies of my poetry book, and they could earn a little money for food, etc, depending on how many books they sell. It is an idea.

Salute,

Tony V.

4587

Religion and Politics / Re: Religion and Politics

« on: September 22, 2018, 04:12:58 PM »

On the issue of helping the homeless... The old people are getting old, and they are dying, and there needs to be a new generation of young people to step forward to help the homeless. 

My friend Rose, she was the daughter of an American soldier who served in the Philippines during World War II against the Japanese, and after the war he stayed in the Philippines, and he married a Filipina woman, so Rose was automatically an American citizen. She wanted to help the USA because the USA saved the Philippines, and also she wanted to help America because her father was American, and so she came to the USA and attended college here, she attended UCLA, and then she became a school teacher in Compton, California, and she taught public school in Compton for twenty years. After she retired from teaching she went to work helping the homeless with my friend Lisa, and she helped the homeless for over thirty years, up until she died. Rose and Lisa were best friends. (Also, Rose's cousin Gloria Arroyo was President of the Philippines. Her whole family served other people.)

Lisa was born wealthy, and her father owned a banana plantation in the Philippines. Lisa is Christian, and she was taught that to those whom much is given, much is expected from, and so Lisa was raised doing public service and was raised helping others. After her father died, she sold the plantation, and she moved to America. She opened a night club in Los Angeles named "Manila Gardens" which was hugely successful. And she opened other businesses, and she invested in Real Estate, and she did some developing, and everything she touched turned to gold, everything she did was successful. Finally, after she amassed over one hundred million dollars, she retired and she went to work helping the homeless people full time. She bought houses and she filled the houses full of beds and she filled the houses full of homeless people, and she cooked and cleaned and stuff for the homeless people, and she ran everything to take care of homeless people. Some of the homeless people would help Lisa after they got healthy, they would help Lisa to help other people. My buddy Tom worked for Lisa, and many other people helped her. And Lisa and Rose would take a cooked pig to the park to feed everyone at the park for free. And on Thanksgiving Lisa and Rose would cook a thousand turkeys for the homeless. Lisa is still helping the homeless, the last that I heard Lisa has around one hundred homeless people living in her houses. But, Lisa is getting old, and new people have to rise up to do the work that Rose and Tom did, and that Lisa and others are doing, young people have to devote their lives to serving other people. The happiest people I know are the ones who devote their lives to serving other people, people who are on a mission, and whom have a life of purpose, are happiest. Young people need to learn from Lisa while Lisa is still alive to teach them. And not only here in Orange County, but in other areas, young people need to learn the joy of serving others.

Maybe someday I will travel the world with Princess Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco donating libraries for poor children and cool stuff like that. I will do service for others in whatever ways I can. We all need to do service for others.

Salute,

Tony V.

4588

Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration

« on: September 19, 2018, 12:19:32 AM »

In the case of an emergency such as a hurricane, some good items to send are cans of Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli, and Kellogg's Pop Tarts. You can live on that....

If I'm in the middle of a catastrophe and that's what is provided,  just leave me for dead.

In the recent catastrophe in Puerto Rico, they sent them lame shit like Skittles. If you are going to send stuff, then send the good stuff. People wasted gasoline to go pick up lame stuff like free Skittles. At least send them Chef Boyardee Ravioli.

Salute,

Tony V.

4589

Previous Administration / Re: Trump Administration

« on: September 18, 2018, 09:25:02 PM »

In the case of an emergency such as a hurricane, some good items to send are cans of Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli, and Kellogg's Pop Tarts. You can live on that. Oh, and also cans of Dinty Moore Beef Stew.

Salute,

Tony V.
 

4590

Religion and Politics / Re: Religion and Politics

« on: September 16, 2018, 05:00:26 PM »

In Hollywood there used to be housing for homeless actresses, run by nuns. When a young lady would come to Hollywood to be an actress, and if she ended up homeless, then the nuns would help her for free, until she became successful, or gave up and went home, or whatever.

And hostels are good too. Like the hostel I stayed at in Rome, Italy, it was only 15 dollars a night. Hollywood needs more hostels. The tourists would love the hostels too.

Salute,

Tony V.